Sheet metal awning



March 11, 1941. L. GUARCELLO sham mm AWN I NGr Filed Feb. 2, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 11,1941. L. GUARCELLO SHEET METAL AWNING A Filed Feb. 2, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,fiouw fiarwzzg, Em /Liar Patented Mar. 11, 1941 1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 11 Claims.

My invention relates to a metallic awning for windows.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a metallic awning for windows which is provided with means for admitting light therethrough with a view of minimizing the degree of darkness or shadow in a room, such as caused when using the conventional textile awning, yet preventing rays of the sun from entering the room directly.

Another object of my invention is to provide an awning which is assured a long life, and which can be easily and quickly secured in place on a building or removed therefrom, and moreover, one which is simple, inexpensive, and capable of withstanding stormy weather.

A further object of my invention is'to provide a shading portion for the awning formed of strips or slats of sheet metal having air and light spaces therebetween, and which strips or slats can be differently colored to simulate a striped textile awning.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a metallic awning so constructed that the sound of raindrops striking thereagainst will be measurably lessened and thus be less annoying to the occupants of a room, particularly when the sash of the window shaded thereby is opened.

A still further object is to provide a sheet-metal awning which is noiseless under wind stress and rigid in construction.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists in the novel features of construction and in the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the subjoined claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an awning constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section taken on line it-Z, Fig. i.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the upper portion of the awning broken in width.

Fig. 4 is a broken perspective view of the lefthand slat-supporting member.

Fig. 5 is a broken perspective view of the righthand slat-supporting member.

Fig. 6 is a detached inverted perspective view of one of the intermediate slats or strips of the body portion of the awning. V

Fig. 7 is a broken perspective view of the brace or brace member and the sun or shade apror. attached thereto. 7

Fig. 8' is a detached inverted perspective view in blank form from which the uppermost slat or strip is constructed.

Fig. 11 is a plan view of a strip of sheet-metal in blank form from which each of the interme- 10 diate slats or strips is constructed.

Fig. 12 is a plan view of a strip of sheet-metal in blank form from which the lowermost slat or strip is constructed.

The body portion of the awning, designated by the numeral 13, is a comparatively flat member comprising two slat-supporting bars [4 which are spaced apart according to the width of the window to which the awning is to be applied, and each of these is preferably formed of angle bars having its depending or side web cut away at each end so that the other or top web has an extended portion l5 at each end. The extended portions at the upper ends of these bars are curved into the form of attaching hooks l8, while those at the lower ends of the bars are utilized for connection to a brace or brace member of the awning, to be hereinafter described.

l1 designates slats or strips of sheet metal which have opposite ends bearing against the upper sides of the spaced-apart slat-supporting bars M, and these ends are spot welded to said bars, thereby forming a body portion of unitary structure. The uppermost slat or strip extends beyond the upper ends of the slat-supporting bars so that its upper edge is in contact with or close proximity to the building above the window to which the awning is applied, and the upper marginal portion of this uppermost slat or strip is rebent, as at l8, to stiffen the same. The lowermost slat or strip is preferably wider than the remaining slats or strips, and is curved downwardly over the lower ends of the slat-supporting bars.

l9 designates the brace or brace member which is preferably constructed of a cylindrical metallic rod bent into U-formation to provide an outer transverse member 2|], and two side members 2|, 22 extending inwardly from opposite ends from said transverse member. The inner ends of said side members are bent at a right-angle, as at 23, and these right-angular portions are threaded for a purpose to presently appear.

The lower extended portions it of the support ing bars I4 are curved around the transverse member of the brace, as at 24, and thus the brace is swingably secured to the body portion of the awning, said transverse member being confined between the curved extended portions of said supporting bars and the adjacent ends of the depending or side webs of said bars, and accidental separation of the brace from the body portion is thus avoided. The body portion and brace may be said to comprise the two main portions of the awning, and these are connected together without any extraneous fastening devices.

Any suitable retainer, such as shown at 25, may be attached to the building above the window to which the awning is to be applied, and the attaching hooks iii are easily hooked into these retainers, as best shown in Fig. 2. Suitable keepers 26 are secured to the building or window casing at opposite sides of the window, and the manner of securing them in place may vary, depending on the construction of the building. In the drawings I have shown these keepers in the form of an eye having a threaded shank 21 which may be threaded into the building. Nuts 28 are applied to the angular threaded portions of the brace and these rest upon the eyes of the keepers when said angular portions are thrust therethrough. Securing nuts 29 are threaded onto the lower ends of these angular portions and bear against the under sides of the eyes of the keepers, thus securely fastening the brace to the building, and incidently providing a secure fastening for the lower end of the body portion of the awning. These angular portions may be of suflicient length to adjust them within the eye and thus assure exact horizontal disposition of the side members of the brace, all of which'provides the desired symmetry and adds to the appearance of the awning when attached.

Each of the slats or strips l1, excepting one end slat or strip, is so constructed that elongated air and light openings or slots 39 are formed through the body portion of the awning, and while this may be accomplished in various ways, the construction shown is of decided advantage and serves to reinforce the slats or strips while resisting any lateral strains applied to the body portion, whether by the elements of the weather, handling, or applying and removing the awning when storing the same, or when caused by misuse.

In the construction of the body portion shown in the drawings, the intermediate slats or strips, more particularly designated by the numeral H, are constructed as shown in Fig. 6 from a sheetmetal strip or blank, such as shown in Fig. 11, which has one longitudinal edge notched at opposite ends, as at 3|, and the extended portion 32 thus formed between these notches bent downwardly along the dotted line 33 shown in said figure, to form a depending flange 34 along said edge. At the opposite longitudinal edge of this strip or blank, an incision 35 is made near each end, and the material between the incisions is bent downwardly along the dotted line 36 to form a second depending flange 37 on the slat or strip. The two end projecting portions 38 thus created on the slot or strip serve as slat or strip-spacers, since the lower edge of the adjacent higher strip bears against such spacers and thus establishes all but one of the elongated air and light slots 30 formed in the body portion of the awning.

The uppermost slat or strip, more particularly designated by the numeral l'l is formed of a sheet-metal strip or blank notched along one longitudinal edge at opposite ends, as at 39,

thereby forming an intermediate projecting portion 40 along said edge which is bent downwardly along the dotted line 4|, shown in Fig. 10, to form the depending flange 42 along the lower edge of said slat or strip. The opposite marginal portion is rebent along the dotted line 43 to stifien the upper edge of said slat or strip.

The lowermost slat or strip, more particularly designated by the numeral H is' formed of a sheet-metal strip or blank provided at one longitudinal edge with short transverse incisions 44 near opposite ends thereof, and the portion of the material 45 between these incisions is bent downwardly along the dotted line 46, shown in Fig. 12, to form the depending flange 41 on the completed slat or strip, the projecting portions 48 at opposite ends ofv the flange serving as slat or strip spacers.

It is to be noted that the slat or strip spacing elements 38 and 48 are of a width conforming exactly to that of the width of the supporting bars, so that the inner edges 01 these spacing elements are flush with the inner edges of the top webs of the supporting bars, and that all of the depending flanges of all of the slats or strips have their ends in contact with said supporting bars.

Along a region between opposite longitudinal edges of the sheet of material shown in Fig. 12, from which the lowermost slat orstrip is formed, this material is curved downwardly to form a depending portion 49 on said slat or strip, and the marginal portion of this downwardly curved portion is rebent inwardly, as at 56, to finish and stiffen the lower edge of this slat or strip. It is therefore clear that the uppermost strip has 2. depending flange at its lower edge, the lowermost slat or strip has a depending flange recessed from its upper edge, and that each of the intermediate slats or strips has a depending flange at its lower edge and a recessed flange at its upper edge. By recessing the flanges of the intermediate and lowermost slats or strips, the elongated air and light slots or openings 30 are formed, and these slots or openings therefore have depending flanges extending along their full lengths forming wide side shading walls therefor which prevent the rays of the sun from directly entering the room protected by the awning, while providing ventilation for the room when the sash of the window is opened.

These flanges furthermore serve, in connection with the slots, as means for deadening the sound caused by drops of rain, hail, or the like because of the efiect they have in diminishing the resonance of the slats or strips, and they also measurably stiffen the body portion of the awn- In securing the awning in place, the brace is allowed to hang downwardly from the lower edge of the body portion, and the latter is placed in vertical or substantially vertical position so that the hooks H5 at the upper ends of the supporting bars M can be entered in the slots of the retainers, after which the body portion of the awning may be swung outwardly by grasping opposite side members of the brace and positioning the angular inner ends thereof through the eyes or keepers 26, with the nuts 28 resting on the eyes or keepers; and when the securing nuts 29 are attached to said angular threaded portions, the awning will be fastened rigidly to resist all strains caused by the elements of the weather.

For the purpose of embellishment, I employ a rubber or similar apron 5i which is secured to bit dec ine the transverse member 20 oi the brace in any suitable manner. In the drawings I have shown this apron secured by means of wires 52 threaded through openings in the apron and curved around said brace, the ends of the wire being twisted to fasten the apron securely in place. This apron also serves to shade the room and may be of any height, and it may be fastened to the brace in any other approved manner. If desired. this apron may be used as a sign, which is found of advantage when applying awnings of this kind to omce windows. The apron may be loosely attached to the brace so that it may sway with the wind and thus attract attention to the sign.

Having thus described my invention, what 1 claim is:

l.= .ltn awning, comprising two side supporting members extending downwardly and outwardly from a building and a metallic covering connecting said side supporting members to make a rigid structure therewith, means to attach the upper ends or said supporting members to the building, and a tl-shaped brace comprising a transverse member and two side members and having said transverse member pivotally secured to the lower end of said supporting members, the side members of said U-shaped brace extending l'freely inwardly from opposite ends oi said transverse member for attachment to the building.

d. An awning, comprising two side supporting members extending downwardly and outwardly from a building, means for attaching the upper ends of said side supporting members to the building, a metallic covering connecting said side supporting members and having transversely disposed slots formed therein, and a ll-shaped brace comprising a transverse member and two side members and having said transverse member pivotally secured to the lower ends oi? said side supporting members and the side members extending inwardly irom opposite ends oi said transverse member for attachment to the building.

l t-n awning, comprising two side supporting members extending downwardly and outwardly from a building, means for attaching the upper ends or said side supporting members to a build ing and a metallic covering connecting side supporting members and having transversely disposed slots formed therein with a depending dange along at least one of the longitudinal sides oi each oi? said slots to prevent the rays of, the sun entering a room protected by said owning, and a brace member pivotally connectedto the lower ends oi said side supporting membera nd extending inwardly irom said lower ends lot" attachment to the building.

All awning, comprising a sheet-metal body portion provided with transversely-disposed slots spaced apart and equipped along one longitudinal side of each slot with a depending flange to prevent the rays of the sun entering a room protected by said awning, said body portion having means to attach the upper end of the same to a building, and means to brace said body portion to said building.

5.. An awning, comprising two spaced-apart slat-supporting members provided with means at their upper ends for attachment to a building, slats extending from slat supporting member to slat-supporting member and having opposite ends secured to said slat-supporting members to maintain the latter in properly spaced relation, said slats being arranged edge to edge and in contact alone, portions of their lengths and havint; air and light op nings therebetween where out of contact, and a brace formed of a rod bent into U-iormation to provide a transverse memher and opposite side members, the inner ends of the latter being adapted for attachment to the building, said transverse member being pivotally secured to the lower ends of said slat-supporting members.

6. An awning, comprising two spaced-apart slat-supporting bars provided with means at their upper ends for attachment to a buildin metallic slats extending from supporting bar to supporting bar and each having a depending house along one of its longitudinal edges and its other edge formed to provide an air and light opening oi which the depending dance of an adjacent slat serves as a wall, theends oi the flanges being in contact with said slat-supporting bars, said slats being secured at opposite ends against the upper sides of said supporting bars, and a lJ-shaped brace pivotally connected to the lower ends or said supporting bars and extending rearwardly therefrom for attachment to the building.

7.. .dn awning, comprising two spaced-apart slat -supporting bars formed oi angle iron providing two webs disposed at a rlght-angle to each other and having one web or each slat-supporting bar extending beyond the other at the upper end, said extended web portions being fashioned lor attachment to a building, metallic slats an" ranged transversely and having opposite ends welded to said supporting bars, said slats being formed to provide air and. light openings therebetween, one oi the webs oi each supporting bar being extended beyond the other at the lower end thereol, and a brace formed of a rod bent into llormation to provide a transverse member and two inwardly-extending side members having their inner ends fashioned tor attaccnt to the building, the web extended portions oi said supporting bars at the lower ends thereol being curved around the transverse member of said brace :l-or pivotal connection thereto.

it. do. awning, comprising a metallic body por tion adapted to have its upper end secured to a building, a brace for said body portion termed ot a cylindrical rod bent into ll lormation to provide a transverse member pivotally connected to the lower end oi said body portion and inwardly-pro ,iecting side members having their inner ends bent at a right angle and screw threaded to term rigid securing teruals, said right-angular por tions being adapted to be passed through eyes secured to the building and to have nuts applied thereto tor rigidly seeming said brace to said eyes.

ltn awning, comprising two side slat-supporting members, a series oi transverse slats connecting said slat-supporting members and secured to the upper sides thereof, each of said slats ex cepting theuppermost having a recessed flange along its upper region and extending from one side slat-supporting member to the other, each bi l till

, their upper and lower ends to provide extended portions formed-by the top webs of said angle irons, the extended portions of the top webs at "the upper ends of said angle irons being curved into hook form for attachmentto retainers secured to a building, sheet-'metal slats connecting said slat-supporting members together and having their ends lying flat in contact with the top webs of said supporting bars and being spot-welded thereto, each of said slats except the uppermost having upwardly-extending lugs at opposite ends serving as slat spacers lying in contact with the edge of a slat directly above and each of said slats except the lowermost having a depending flange along its lower edge extending from one slat-supporting member to the other, said slat spacers serving to form transversely-disposed slots between the slats and the lowermost slat being curved downwardly over the ends of said slatsupporting members, and a brace formed of a cylindrical bar bent into U-formation to provide a transverse member and two side members extending inwardly from opposite ends of said transverse member and adapted to have their inner ends attached to keepers applied to the building, the extended portions of the top webs at the lower ends of said slat-supporting members being curved around said transverse member to pivotally connect said brace to said slat-supporting members,

11. An awning, comprising two spaced-apart side supporting bars, a series of sheet-metal slats extending from one of said supporting bars to the other and having opposite ends secured thereto, the uppermost sheet-metal slat being formed or a strip or metal notched along its lower edge at opposite ends thereof to provide a projecting portion between said notches, said projecting portion being bent downwardly to form a depending flange extending from one side supporting bar to the other and the upper marginal portion of said strip of metal being rebent to form a reinforced upper edge, the lower slat being formed 01. a strip of metal having incisions extending inwardly from its upper edge near opposite ends and having the metal between said incisions bent downwardly to form a depending flange, the lower portion of said sheet of metal being curved downwardly over the ends of said supporting bars and having its lower marginal portion rebent to stifien the lower edge of said slat, each of the intermediate slats being formed of a strip 01' metal'heving also incisions extending inwardly from its upper edge and the metal between said incisions bent downwardly to form 9, depending flange and. having also opposite ends of the lower edge of said strip notched and the metal between said notches bent downwardly to form a depending flange whereby upon placing said slats edge to edge, transversely elongated openings are formed in said body portion between adjacent slats, and means connected to the lower end of the awning to brace the same to the building.

oms GUARCELLO. 

